


First Ticklish Quiver

by orphan_account



Category: Marvel 616, Young Avengers
Genre: Backstory, Canon Queer Relationship, M/M, Schmoop, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-26
Updated: 2010-12-26
Packaged: 2017-10-14 02:57:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/144590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All that passes through Billy's internal filter is the fact that Teddy Altman is even more awkward than him, at times, and the even more important fact that Teddy's lips look almost as irresistible as his hands.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Ticklish Quiver

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Raisintorte](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raisintorte/gifts).



I. Billy always feels guilty whenever anyone implies that it must have been love at first sight. He knows better. Billy remembers looking at that cute blond boy, two rows over in the library where Billy tries to escape the noisy ambushes of his little brothers in an actual attempt to finish his Algebra homework. The blond stranger has his head in an English book and idly picks at the row of earrings going up his ear. Billy's never much cared for Algebra - what kind of freak _does_ , after all? But that day, he's even more distracted than normal, and it has nothing at all to do with the boredom of the subject.

No, it's those hands.

Later, Kate will lean over his shoulder in the Young Avengers headquarters she so generously buys with her father's money and she will whisper the kind of dirty comments that will still make Billy blush, when she catches Billy watching those hands, because they will never, ever grow old. Between the blushes, Billy will squirm and flash back to that day in the library.

No, it isn't love Billy feels that day. It's entirely unromantic, hormone-driven lust. That night, those hands are all Billy thinks about after the lights are turned off. He still doesn't know the kid's name, and Billy can't even summon up a particularly well-defined face, because that is still well-hidden behind particularly unruly mop of blond hair.

But the hands are enough for Billy. From the first ticklish quiver in his belly to the full body-tingling rush, those hands are all Billy sees.

II. Billy has every intention of going back to that library the next day, but the universe conspires against him. Or, rather, his own private bully conspires against him. If he is going to pull a personal stalker act on a perfect stranger, it's going to have to wait until his face no longer looks like someone _else's_ personal punching bag.

After it heals, Billy starts going back to the library. It only takes him two days to see the blond kid again; Billy is still trying to talk himself out of turning around and running home when he arrives at the kid's table.

"Hi," Billy says awkwardly, because he has long since known that he is different and has never had any problem with that, but figuring out a way to ask others if they are different too – well, that has always been a problem.

"Hey," the other boy says. "I was hoping you'd come back."

Later, they will land on the same superhero team, and their first night together as a team will be a pretty big failure. But Billy will remind Teddy that they both "came back" from the battle, and hasn't that always been a good sign? Teddy will smile at him, and call him a dork, and Billy won't deny it, because it's true.

But his dorkery on that day in the future is no match for the dorky smile that slips over his face that day in the library, when he realizes that the blond kid actually _missed him._

III. His parents think it's a blessing that Teddy's actually good at Algebra. They're pleased that Billy might actually stand a chance of passing the class, once Teddy starts coming over to "tutor" him.

Billy discovers during the course of those tutoring sessions that Teddy is actually one of those freaks that _does_ like Algebra. He's not just passingly good at it - he gets some type of bizarre enjoyment out of the subject.

"You're obviously not from Planet Earth," Billy will tease him, between the popcorn and the theorems that still aren't as interesting as Teddy's hands.

Later, Teddy will lean over, in a bed in a bed two weeks after both sets of the Teddy's biological parents try to reclaim him and remind Billy of the comment, his mouth teasing a path along Billy's ears, exactly where earrings would be if Billy's matched his. Billy will feel ridiculous and warm with shame at the memory, but Teddy will kiss it and make it better.

Billy's completely oblivious to his future shame during those early tutoring sessions, though. All that passes through his internal filter is the fact that Teddy Altman is even more awkward than him, at times, and the even more important fact that Teddy's lips look almost as irresistible as his hands.

IV. It doesn't take Billy long to get another face full of bruises, and he readily tries to avoid Teddy this time around as well.

It's harder, though, since this time around Teddy knows where Billy lives, and Billy's mom has no problem sending Teddy up to his room in some diabolical plot to make his shame far more obvious than it ever needs to be.

"Wow, what happened to you?" Teddy asks.

"What's it look like?" Billy asks sullenly, because being humiliated in front of a would-be crush is never good for his mood. "My face kind of got in the way of someone's punch. Or twelve."

There's a quick look of anger – and wow, Billy thinks, how did I not notice his face _first_? - before Teddy asks, "Why?"

"I'm - " Billy falters for a minute. He's never actually said it out loud, and saying it to your _crush_ is not exactly the best practice run. But he takes a deep breath and spits out an explanation, because his tongue is taking up too much room for the words to stay unspoken in his mouth. "He beat me up because I'm different, Teddy. It – it kind of happens a lot. It'll probably happen again."

Teddy runs his fingers over his earrings again, thoughtfully. "What kind of different?" he asks, as though there are several different possibilities.

"The kind where, if my parents knew ... uh. They probably wouldn't want the door to the room to be shut when another boy is up here," Billy answers, and his stomach suddenly hurts just as much as his bruised and swollen face does, as he waits on Teddy's answer.

Later, he'll stand next to Teddy's bed, in a guest room in Latveria and his stomach will clench just as tightly as he remembers that afternoon. He'll scrawl a hasty note in the darkness while Teddy clings to an empty pillow and hopes that Teddy will be as understanding as Billy's actions demand him to be.

But in that afternoon in Billy's bedroom, that future doesn't matter. All that matters is the sweet promise of a new beginning that comes when Teddy smiles and replies with a soft "Me too."


End file.
